MEDICAL SERVICE: KUALA LUMPUR- Health Minister vows to address housemen issue

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad has vowed to address the issue of housemen being forced to work long hours on a single shift at government hospitals.

The health minister said his immediate focus is to tackle the perennial issue that has long affected trainee doctors nationwide, following a report that some housemen were clocking up to 18 hours a day.

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“I will look into the matter at once. I’ll get to the bottom of this,“ he told reporters after attending a programme today.

“I will also get the deputy director-general (medicine) Datuk Dr Azman Abu Bakar to look into the issue and address it.”

Dzulkefly is expected to address the media and elaborate on the issue after the weekly Cabinet meeting tomorrow.

He was responding to a report by theSun quoting several housemen that they were being asked to work over 16 hours on some days, with no overtime payment, and only getting a single day off every week.

Some have also claimed to have little to no time for meals and breaks, and that their first meal would sometimes come only after they complete their shifts at night.

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This has raised concerns that the doctors might not be at their best both physically and mentally when attending to their patients, while also putting their own safety at risk with insufficient rest, especially when they are driving home.

Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) president Datuk Azih Muda has called for an immediate review of the working hours of housemen, saying having to work many extra hours without being paid for them was unacceptable.

He said under the law, the compulsory working hours was only eight hours per day, and that being put on an extra 10 hours a day would be detrimental to their (trainee’s) health.

“Working up to 18 hours is too much, it can even be considered ragging. We feel this is not appropriate. How are they even supposed to remain healthy mentally and physically,“ he told theSun.

“It is also against the law. If they work extra hours, they must be paid. Even government servants only work about eight hours a day.

“I’m not too well-versed about housemanship, but either way, they must not be bullied on the hours worked. The government must review this, and must not risk the housemen.”